From Zero to $2M: How Tally Built a Form Empire With Just 5 People
Ever wonder how a tiny team could compete with giants like Google Forms?
Meet Tally. The little form builder that could.
Started by a couple in Belgium during the pandemic summer of 2020, Tally has grown from zero to $2 million in annual revenue. With just five people on the team.
Let’s dive into their story. It’s filled with practical lessons you can actually use.
Starting From Nothing
Marie and Filip had a problem. Form builders were frustrating. Too complex. Too limited. Too expensive.
So they built their own.
Their first version was embarrassingly basic. You could add questions. That’s it. You couldn’t even publish a form.
No users. No revenue. No connections.
What did they do? They started small. First, friends and family. Then cold outreach to strangers on Twitter and Product Hunt.
Most people ignored them. Sound familiar?
But some responded. These early believers became their first community.
The Strategy That Changed Everything
While competitors built walls, Tally tore them down.
Their approach was radical in its simplicity:
- Make almost everything free
- No limits on forms or responses
- Keep the product dead simple to use
This wasn’t just being nice. It was their battle plan for entering a crowded market.
Think about it like this: If you’re the new pizza place in town, you don’t charge for the first slice. You let people taste it. You make it so good they come back for more.
Their free-first approach extended to everything:
- One-page website
- Single pricing tier ($29/month)
- No signup required to try the product
You could literally start building a form the moment you landed on their page. No hoops to jump through.
Growing in Public
By November 2020, they had 344 users paying a grand total of… $119 a month.
Not exactly retirement money.
But instead of hiding these humble numbers, they shared everything.
Their roadmap? Public. Their progress? Public. Their challenges? You guessed it—public.
Each new feature became a mini-celebration shared across every platform they could find. Twitter. Reddit. Indie Hackers forums. No-code communities.
The result? People started rooting for them.
Real Life Happens
Then December hit. And with it came their daughter Lucy.
Right in the middle of building their startup. During a global pandemic.
Their planned launch? Postponed.
Sometimes life throws you curveballs. The founders took a month off. Adjusted their timeline. Kept moving forward.
The lesson here? Business plans don’t exist in a vacuum. Real life happens. Plans change. You adapt.
The Breakthrough Moment
March 2021. Product Hunt launch day.
They held the #1 spot for 23 hours before slipping to #4. Heartbreaking? Maybe a little.
But the results spoke for themselves. Their user base doubled overnight. From 1,500 to 3,000 users in 24 hours.
This wasn’t just a good day. It was the turning point.
What Actually Worked
By April 2021, they had reached $1,156 monthly recurring revenue with 4,000 users.
How did they get there? Not through fancy marketing tactics or expensive ads.
Their growth came from:
- Product Hunt exposure
- Being active on Twitter
- The “Powered by Tally” badge on free forms
- Engaging in no-code communities
- Sharing their journey on Indie Hackers
That “Powered by Tally” badge? Pure gold. Every free form became a mini-billboard. Like having thousands of tiny salespeople working for free.
The Moment of Truth
Summer 2021 brought a slowdown. Growth flatlined. Doubt crept in.
With 8,000 users but only 100 paying customers, they asked themselves the question every founder dreads: “Do we actually have product-market fit?”
So they did what smart founders do. They asked their users directly.
“How disappointed would you be if you could no longer use Tally?”
The answer? 59% said “very disappointed.”
That’s when they knew. They had something people truly valued.
If you are interested reading simillar growth stories here is one: How Tibo Louis-Lucas Turned Bankruptcy into a $10M Exit
Fast Forward to Today
Look at Tally now:
- $2 million in annual revenue
- Over 400,000 users worldwide
- Still just 5 people on the team
- $150,000 coming in every month
All without a dime of outside investment.
Let that sink in. A team smaller than a basketball starting lineup building a multi-million dollar business.
For more details you can visit their official site: Tally Blog
Three Big Lessons
After four years in the trenches, here’s what Marie and Filip learned:
- It’s okay to say no. You can’t please everyone. Don’t try.
- Success is boring. It’s answering emails. Writing help docs. Fixing bugs. Day after day after day.
- Ask for help. Someone has already solved your problem. The indie hacker community is incredibly generous—if you just ask.
Why This Matters
In a world obsessed with funding rounds and growth at all costs, Tally’s story is refreshingly different.
They didn’t need millions in venture capital. They didn’t need a huge team. They didn’t need complex strategies.
They just needed to solve a problem better than anyone else.
And they did it while building in public, starting a family, and staying true to their values.
So the next time someone tells you that you need massive funding or a huge team to compete in software…
Tell them about Tally.
Because sometimes, the simplest approach wins.
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